Sunday, April 6, 2014

This weekend, in between eating ALL THE FOOD, I ran my first
New York Road Runner’s race! The Scotland Run 10K was also my first NYC race,
first race in Central Park, and really, the only race I’ve ever run besides my
half-marathon last year.

I went into it having no idea what to make my goal
time. A friend from my running group
gave me a goal of 45 minutes, which seemed a little crazy to me. I still think of the days when going out for
a 3 mile run meant running for 30 minutes. A 5 mile run, 50 minutes. It really wasn’t all that long ago that 10
minute miles were all I knew how to run. And even now, I know I run faster, but
I’m not big on timing myself- I’ll look at Map My Run to see my pace at the end
of a run, but it’s not my biggest concern.
Working towards my first half-marathon and now working towards my first
marathon has made me a very distance-centered runner. But for a 6.2 mile race, I wanted to get out
there and see how fast I could go.

I got to sleep early the night before and got to stay in a
wonderfully comfortable hotel bed. I woke up at 6 and struggled hardcore with
what I was going to wear. I knew it would eventually be warm and sunny out but
it was 6 am and I didn’t feel like freezing for the next 2 hours. I decided the hassle of bag check was worth it to bring a few extra layers with
me! Then I went down to the hotel gym to use the foam roller and grabbed some
breakfast.

(The granola bar's name is an accurate description of when it was eaten)

That granola bar was pretty great. I may have also eaten like
half of my friends bagel because…carbs.

When we got to Central Park I was pretty frozen. Despite the
long sleeves and jacket, I was wearing shorts and my legs were a giant goosebump.
We picked up our packets before getting some tats of the Scottish flag.

(Tatted up!)

Next we hit up the porta potty village, checked my bag, and
then the waiting around began. Which meant time for pictures!

I loved the atmosphere. Runners everywhere! Central Park!
Greatest city in the world! Sun coming up over the skyline! Most people still
sleeping and here we all were ready to work itttttt.

I was in the fourth corral and stupidly forgot to look at
the clock to see what time we actually got to the start line- so the clocks at
the mile markers throughout the race were pretty much worthless to me. I don’t know if that helped, or hurt, because
not knowing my time, I just kept going as fast as I could!

I’m not sure racing is my thing- I hated the start when
there were so many people around and I just felt like so much time getting in
my grove was wasted by having to maneuver around people! At the same time, the
added adrenaline of running in a race definitely helps in the speed department!

(Lots 'o people)

I felt pretty good the entire race- I even powered up the
hills like they were no big thang, which was shocking because I am usually the
world’s biggest baby when it comes to a slight incline. The fact that I
full-out ran down the hills is making
my shins very unhappy a few days later though.

By mile 5 though, my ears started doing their crackly
popping thing that is my body saying, “Damnit Lauren, why didn’t you drink more
water? Hydration! It’s important! Are you stupid?” Wooops. Did that stop me from running the entire race
without stopping at a water station? No. Ain’t nobody got time for that! This
is probably about the time where the sun was fully out and my black long
sleeved shirt was starting to seem like far too much clothing. And my chest was
starting to burn a little. And then it
was 5.5 miles and I was pissed at myself because I like finishing strong and
saving myself some gas for that last sprint.
Instead I crossed the finish line feeling like absolute death BUT also
knowing that I had pretty much given it my all and that I had done pretty
well. I also knew I started with runners in the 4000's and finished with bibs in the 2000's (speaking of, I should probably adjust my 9:00 pace on my NYRR profile). Of course, since I didn’t know when I had started, I couldn’t really calculate my actual time.

So I spent the next few hours obsessively refreshing the
NYRR website, obviously.

As soon as I finished I chugged a cup of water, destroyed an
apple in like 3 bites, and obviously I needed another cinnamon raisin bagel
because…carbs? Then I stood around at the finish watching for a little while,
saw some cool peeps from Jack Rabbit, found my friend, and headed to meet my
dad for brunch!

(Egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, peppers and onions!)

During which I CONTINUED to obsessively refresh the NYRR
website until one time, when my results popped up! 45:23! 23 seconds over my
goal of 45 minutes BUT my pace was 7:20 and that made me feel pretty
awesome. And out of 276 female runners
between the ages of 20 – 24, I came in 12th!

I took a WONDERFUL 2 hour nap that afternoon. It’s CRAZY how different my body felt after racing 6 miles vs. if I had just gone
for a 6 mile run.

I’m a little worried because Sunday I tried running an easy
mile on the treadmill, and my shins are owwy. And something feels wrong in my
right knee. So no running Sunday. We’ll see
how I feel on Monday I suppose!

I’m really impressed with how organized the race was. And we
got shirts which is always a plus! Go NYRR! I’ll definitely be signing up for
more races soon. Need to figure out my
favorite distances and all that jazz! I love the wonderful world of running :)

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Who of us hasn't considered how our peers will react to our performance in a given race, whether good or bad? And in those moments, whom are we ultimately running for? The sport is difficult enough as it is; doing it for anyone but ourselves makes it unsustainable.